Heritage Center renamed Midland County Courthouse

Published 6:00 pm, Sunday, November 23, 2008

Along with its $20 million makeover, the Heritage Building will be renamed as the Midland County Courthouse.

The Midland County Commissioners' Court voted unanimously to adopt the new name during its meeting Monday.

"We had so much public input that we had acquired a list of 12 names," County Judge Mike Bradford said. "We sought some input from the people who will be occupying the building before reaching this decision."

District Judges John Hyde, Dean Rucker, George Gilles and Robin Darr submitted a letter offering their two top preferences - the name that had been picked and the Midland County Courts Building - for the building located on 500 N. Loraine St.

As for the existing Midland County Courthouse on Wall Street, county officials said it will be renamed.

"We will address the name of the existing courthouse when we get closer to determining its future use," said Commissioner Jimmy Smith, who's been overseeing the renovations for the new courthouse. "I think it's inappropriate to rename it until we know what use it will be (used for."

The existing courthouse had been built 1939 by architecture firm Voelcker and Dixon. It was remodeled in 1974.

According to the deed of the Wall Street property, the land must be "used by the Midland County courthouse and jail building."

"But the deed doesn't prevent the use of the name that had been chosen (for the new building) or any variation," County Attorney Russell Malm said. "The implication from the language (of the deed) is that it has to be used for some purpose related to a courthouse and jail. The language is really vague as to the limits."

The renaming comes at a time when crews will soon bring in a crane to do some roof work after the first of the year. At that time, county officials said the new lettering for the Midland County Courthouse will be placed on two sides of the building.

Crews, at that time, will remove the CBS-7 sign that currently sits atop of the structure.

"It took us so long to remove the sign because we wanted to bring in a crane too many times," Bradford said. "It ends up being a cost savings for the county to do it all at once."